Travel report: Lake Constance cycle tour
From our guests Klaus and Anne
Klaus and Anne decided to join their friends Burchard and Birgit on the classic Lake Constance cycle tour starting in Kressbronn. This year's cycling trip took the group of friends from Kressbronn as their starting point around Lake Constance.
Read about midsummer temperatures, wonderful cool-downs in Lake Constance and energizing coffee breaks in this travel report.
Day 1: Arrival and first exploratory ride (15 km)
We set off at 6.00 am with our friends Burchard and Birgit on this year's cycle tour to Lake Constance. The car journey takes us from South Tyrol via the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck, on to Landeck and through the Arlberg tunnel to Bregenz and our destination of Kressbronn.
Show more Show lessIn the Landgasthof Dorfkrug, we pick up our rental bikes in the late morning and take our first exploratory bike ride to the moated castle. After a hearty lunch, we cycle back to Kressborn, where we round off the afternoon with a cool dip in Lake Constance.
Day 2: Stage from Kressbronn to Rorschach (61 km)
After breakfast, we start our cycle tour with our first stage to Rorschach in Switzerland. We reach Lindau in the early morning, where we enjoy the view of the Bavarian Lion and the New Lighthouse and fortify ourselves in a coffee house.
Show more Show lessWe continue on to Bregenz and the Bregenz lake stage. We are already looking forward to the stage set, as we saw the opera Carmen there for the first time last year. We are fascinated by the stage design for the opera Rigoletto and unfortunately have to admit that all of this summer's performances are already fully booked.
So we soon get back on our bikes and cycle on towards the Rhine delta. We fortify ourselves with a pretzel and a drink at a boat rental with a bistro and cycle on to Rorschach. We receive a very friendly welcome at the Hotel Mozart and decide to have dinner there on the beautiful terrace.
Show more Show lessDay 3: Stage from Rorschach to Constance (40 km)
After having a hearty breakfast and packing our things, we set off for Arbon, where we take some snapshots of the funniest knitting sets of various objects such as trees or railings.
In Romanshorn, we take our daily coffee break and soon afterwards, Burchard and I play mini golf at a campsite near Uttwil while our wives enjoy an aperitif. As we really like the shady spot under a lime tree, we have a delicious salad plate and enjoy the day.
As it is already very hot, we head to a nearby lido, go for a swim and rest in the shade. We still have the remaining 13 km to Constance ahead of us in the now scorching temperatures. Luckily, we have the opportunity to enjoy an ice cream and a slice of cake in an air-conditioned patisserie in Bottighofen before we reach our destination for the day in Constance, feeling rather exhausted from the heat. We receive a friendly welcome at the Hotel Barbarossa and are immediately allowed to collect our luggage and check into our booked rooms with a view of Constance city center.
Show more Show lessDay 4: Stage from Constance to Gailingen (60 km)
Today, the cycle route first takes us through the city center of Constance across the Rhine towards Reichenau. We want to cover the majority of our cycling kilometers in the morning, as another very hot day awaits us. For this reason, we don't make a detour to the island of Reichenau, but cycle quickly to Radolfzell. Once there, a fruit and vegetable market awaits us in the town center. We stop to enjoy the hustle and bustle with an orange juice, while waiter Carlos keeps everyone happy with his cheerful manner and singing. We reach our lunch destination of Stein am Rhein at around 12.30 p.m. and are fascinated by the numerous facades of the renovated town houses.
Show more Show lessWe fortify ourselves with an organic salad and soon afterwards we take a dip in the Rhine and let the current carry us downstream. We don't tackle the 12 km to Gailingen again until 5.00 pm. We reach our Hotel Rheingold shortly before half past six. We have an aperitif before moving into our very nice rooms. Tired from our strenuous day's stage, we fortify ourselves with excellent meat and fish dishes in the hotel restaurant and then go to bed.
Day 5: Stage from Gailingen to Überlingen (61 km)
We set off from our hotel at 9 o'clock in the morning and cycle back to Stein am Rhein. There we have the usual coffee break. We then cross the Rhine and cycle almost non-stop on the Swiss side of Untersee to Constance. From time to time we fill up our water bottles in the numerous fountains along the route or cool our arms and legs in the refreshing water. Another very hot day awaits us!
Show more Show lessIn Constance, we cross the city and reach the harbor, where we first find out about the rest of the cycle route. Shortly before the island of Mainau, we have lunch in a restaurant and then spend the afternoon at the lido in Litzelstetten. We stay there until 5 p.m., then cycle on to Wallhausen, where the ferry takes us to Überlingen. In Überlingen, we spend the night in the centrally located Hotel Wiestor, so that we can find a restaurant near the shore in just a few minutes on foot. We round off the evening with a very good dinner and a bottle of white wine with a delicious ice cream on the riverside promenade.
Day 6: Stage from Überlingen to Kressbronn (48 km)
In the morning, we fill up our water bottles at the fountain next to our Hotel Wiestor and set off towards Meersburg. We use the coffee break in Meersburg to discuss the day's itinerary. We continue to Friedrichshafen, where we take a short break and send a few postcards.
At around 1.30 pm, we reach the seaside resort in Erichskirch, where we enjoy a delicious pizza, salads and bruschetta with tomatoes in the newly opened lakeside restaurant. We take a dip in the swimming pool and then relax in a shady spot on the spacious sunbathing lawn. On the way home to Kressbronn, we discover the natural beauty of the Erichskirch nature reserve before arriving at the Landgasthof in Kressbronn at 6.30 pm. We end the evening comfortably in the beer garden and are proud of the 275 km we have covered in the past 6 days.
Show more Show lessDay 7: Departure
In the morning after breakfast, we return our two rental bikes, load our bikes onto the car, stow our luggage and drive to Bregenz. We take the cable car up to the Pfänder, which gives us a beautiful view of Lake Constance and the entire region. We stay there for a while, take photos and share our thoughts about what we have experienced before heading home to South Tyrol in the afternoon.
Show more Show lessConclusion:
This was a picture-book cycling vacation without a single drop of rain in tropical temperatures, but plenty of cooling dips in Lake Constance and the Rhine!
